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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

BIRD BRAIN IDEA: AROD AS FIRST BASE BACK UP?

I am a Mark Teixeira fan and have admitted that multiple times. However, I am also realist. How long before Tex hits the disabled list in 2016? Do I hear May 1st, how about June 12th? It's sad but true, but I would be naive to believe that Tex is anything less than a ticking time bomb at first base. So what do the Yankees do? Sure, it's been stated Dustin Ackley is the first base back up, but how about Alex Rodriguez?

I read an article last week about what is known as "artificial swarm intelligence." In a nutshell, AI harnesses "groups of human minds to come up with predictions for real world events." I can bet that as this post is shared among all of us readers, we can predict not only when Tex will go on the DL but we may also predict his replacement. See, artificial swarm intelligence brings together groups of experts to help make collective decisions, tapping into the wisdom and intuition of the crowd. The exercise is much more valid and reliable than actual polling.

Our BYB fan think tank would most likely get awfully close to an answer about Tex's wellness in 2016 and Rodriguez's eventual graduation to first base.

At the end of last season, Yankee Skipper Joe Girardi stated that Rodriguez wasn't quite ready to play first base because he had not had a lot of time to get used to the position. Now with more lead time and no Greg Bird, Alex may just have to get used to the other corner of the infield. "You can tell when a guy is comfortable. He has not had a lot of work there because we had gotten to the point where he was strictly a DH. I guess with Tex being down, there’s some different things that you try to look at, and different possibilities," reported the Daily News last September.

Just something for us to chew on as we wait out the remaining days until Spring Training. Let's just get comfortable with the idea that Rodriguez could be our first base back up.